RAP - NO MORE DRAMA

Posted on May 15, 2017

NO MORE DRAMA

The Need

Parents and care givers with teen girls are far too familiar with the troubling way girls bully each other. Toxic relationships between teen girls disrupt communities and have the potential of creating long term impacts that damage the emotional and social wellbeing of girls. What is needed is programming targeted at reducing and eliminating the ‘drama’ girls experience in their relationships.

The Project – a project for women funded by Rotary Women

RAP is offering the NO MORE DRAMA project. This important project supports girls (and youth who identify as a girl) to reduce bullying and relational aggression in their relationships. The project provides girls with a safe and supportive environment to help them learn how to have healthy relationships. Ultimately, this project will help young girls to become the best version of themselves.

NO MORE DRAMA is offered in eight modules. Four of the modules are designed to raise awareness and provide active participation for girls to discuss topics such as: why girls engage in ‘drama’; the impact of media culture on girls; dating violence; and self-image. The remaining four modules are designed to provide strategies to teach the girls how to: develop emotional and social health; make positive decisions, improve self-confidence, and manage conflict.

Joanne Fisher and Bev Johnson are funding leaders in our Club.

The fit with RAP

RAP is the perfect vehicle to offer NO MORE DRAMA. We are accessible to 9,000 young people attending; Mount Royal Collegiate, Bedford Road Collegiate, E.D. Feehan High School, Bethlehem High School, Walter Murray Collegiate, Bishop James Mahoney High School, Tommy Douglas Collegiate, Holy Cross High School, and St. Joseph High School in the Saskatoon Public and Catholic Schools. These young people are between the ages of 14 to 22 attending grades nine to 12. Young people regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sexual diversity, and/or socio-economic status utilize RAP. RAP provides programs and services that serve the needs of ALL young people, not only those young people traditionally identified as ‘being at risk’.

The success of RAP in dealing with bullying and conflict is well documented. The RAP worker in the school builds an environment of trust so young people feel comfortable to access RAP. The relationship fostered by RAP workers and young people is key to the helping process. Research by the University of Saskatchewan has indicated that 38% of all our referrals to RAP are self-referrals. Most importantly, young girls make up 56% of our cases. NO MORE DRAMA will provide RAP with an additional component to serve the girls we are already reaching and increase our ability to attract more.

Intended Project Impact

The project is intended to produce the following results:

Improved self-esteem;

Refined strategies to solve disputes and conflict;

Leadership skills;

Enhanced decision making skills;

Better employability through the attainment of positive social skills;

Safety

Empathy

Improved academic performance; and a

Reduction in bullying incidents between girls

We believe the core competencies attained in this project will provide girls with asset that they can take into their workplaces, post-secondary institutions, and their future relationships

Implementation and Results to Date

NO MORE DRAMA is currently being provided at Walter Murray Collegiate and Bedford Road Collegiate to 28 girls. We are finalizing dates for the project at Mount Royal Collegiate. Current feedback about the project has been incredibly positive. The practicum student assigned to RAP who is working with our workers expressed to me that she has seen, “Strong bonds forming with girls who had zero contact previous to the project.” We are pleased with the positive relationships forming between these girls. Further anecdotal information from RAP Workers, teachers, school administrators, and the girls themselves will be shared in the future.

NO MORE DRAMA is being offered to teen girls at Nelson Mandela High School in Calgary Alberta through our partner Peer Mediation And Skills Training (PMAST). We are in the process of facilitating a Skype call between our girls in Saskatoon and the girls in Calgary. We look forward to this opportunity, particularly because the majority of girls involved with NO MORE DRAMA in Calgary are new Canadians. We have been told that for many of these girls, “NO MORE DRAMA is giving a voice to young women who often did not have a voice before.”

Application Outside of RAP

NO MORE DRAMA is another example of the fantastic projects RAP offers. Like our fee for service Basic Conflict Management Training we offer to business and community organizations, NO MORE DRAMA can be offered to adult women. As with conflict, there is no arguing that toxic relationships between female co-workers can impact the workplace resulting in decreased job satisfaction, moral and productivity. We are willing to offer this course on a fee for service basis to support business and community organizations to reduce and eliminate the ‘drama’ experienced by women.